Scars
by hazelsherlock
Summary: Even though he was a spy for the light, Draco's punishment for taking the mark is to spend a year in a muggle neighbourhood. Hermione's neighbourhood. They become friends, but before anything else can happen, their scars need healing first. Dramione. All credit to JK Rowling.
1. Chapter 1

Set after Hogwarts, not sure how long exactly, probably a year and a half, maximum. Eventual Dramione, so if you don't like, don't read. Going to attempt to write entirely in Draco's perspective. The only thing different from the books is that Draco is a spy.

Hope you enjoy! :D

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CHAPTER 1-

I can't believe my punishment for being a death eater was to live in the muggle world for a minimum of a year. After the war had ended, McGonagall told the Ministry that me and Professor Snape spied on Lord Voldemort for the Order of the Phoenix. It's not like I was an official member of the Order, but I wasn't an official member of Voldemort's army either. Well, not in my eyes. I got a year in the muggle world as I took the dark mark. I suppose it's better than Azkaban: my parents were sent there for five years each. Not that I cared. They made me take the mark. They made me bully people. They made me hate everything I wasn't.

I sighed and looked at the key in the palm of my hand. _Let's get this over with. _I walked up the drive of the house I was stood in front of and put the key in the lock, turned it and went in, locking up again behind me before slipping the key into the pocket of my jeans. The war had made me a little paranoid: I was a slightly afraid that a Gryffindor would knock my door down in the middle of the night and try to kill me for what they thought I had done and wanted to know why I wasn't rotting in Azkaban with my parents.

Of course, I could take them on any day. But I would rather it didn't happen: I was still having nightmares from what I had seen Voldemort and the rest of his followers do to all manner of people and creatures. I shuddered and dropped the bag containing all of my belongings in to the floor of hallway. I went up the stairs and found a master bedroom and a spare bedroom: not sure which Ministry Official thought I might make a muggle friend and invite them to stay over for the night. I checked in the bathroom. Normal. That was good.

I went back downstairs and into the living room and there was a black box on top of a cabinet sat staring at me. I poked it. No response. I moved onto the study were a flat, white rectangle was on a desk. I walked slowly towards it and found that you could lift up half of it, to reveal the alphabet on the bottom half of it and a black rectangle on the top half. Leaving it, I went back into the hallway and through to the kitchen and dining room.

There were A LOT of weird boxes in here. There was one with four black circles on and two cabinets beneath, and then a white box with numbers printed on one side of it. Towards the back door, there was a big white box with a black hole in the centre and a lot of buttons on it, then further along loomed a massive cuboid with two doors on it. I backed away slowly and sat on the stairs in the hallway.

What crazy world did muggles live in?!

There was a knock at the door and I jumped up, taking my wand out of my pocket. _Breathe, Draco. Breathe._ I put my wand away and unlocked the door, to find a pretty girl stood outside, holding a white box. She had freckles and almost waist long brown wavy hair. Her amber eyes shone at me, and my gaze fell down to her lips which had a cut in it. In fact, there were several cuts all over her face. She was staring intently at me too, and when recognition flashed in her eyes, she took a step backwards.

'Malfoy?'

'Granger?'

We stood on the doorstep staring at each other a few minutes before she spoke. 'Are you going to invite me in?' I nodded, feeling a little light-headed. I stepped to the side and she walked in and through to the kitchen. I shut the door and locked it once more before following her. Granger put down the box on the dining room table before turning to me. 'Why are you here?'

'My punishment for taking the dark mark was living a year in a muggle neighbourhood. Why are you here?'

'I live here.'

'No, here, here.' I said, pointing to my kitchen.

'Oh, well… when I get new neighbours, I bring cake around for them.' She opened the box and I saw a chocolate cake inside of it.

'Errmmm… thanks. I guess.'

'No problem. I'll see you around then.' She awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before walking past me and towards the front door. Just as she reached for the handle, I called out to her.

'Hermione! I mean, Granger, I wouldn't usually ask this, but could you help me?' She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

'Help you with what?'

'I don't understand what all of these strange black and white boxes in my house are for. They just keep staring at me, and it's really quite unnerving.' She smiled, and I saw that her beaver teeth had retreated, and her smile looked normal.

'Boxes?' She came back into the kitchen and I pointed to the white one with numbers on one side of it. She began to laugh.

'It's not funny, Granger!'

'That's the microwave, Malfoy. You cook things quickly in there, like baked beans or something.' I nodded and then she explained the fridge, washing machine, cooker, television, laptop and telephone, which I had failed to notice due to its size.

'Where do I get food from then?'

'The supermarket.' I shook my head, telling her that I didn't understand. She bit her lip, supressing a laugh.

'I'll take you tomorrow if you like. It's getting pretty late.' I glanced at the clock at saw it was almost ten o'clock. 'Just order a takeaway for now.'

'How do I do that?' She smiled and pulled some menus out of a kitchen cupboard and took the phone out of the living room. 'What do you want?' I pointed to an item on one of the menus and she put the phone on something called loud speaker so we could both hear the conversation. Granger ordered the food and spoke my address before hanging up.

'It'll arrive soon. Just pay them when they get here. You know how to do that, right?'

I rolled my eyes at the Gryffindor Princess, who was currently sat across me at the table in my kitchen. 'I'm not that stupid, Granger.'

'I'd beg to differ.'

'I got the second highest exam results in the entire year.'

'I GOT the highest.' I narrowed my eyes at her and she stood up, smirking smiling. 'I'm not in work tomorrow, so I'll be around at nine to take you shopping. I take it you're not working tomorrow?'

'No, the Ministry gave me a week off to get settled in.' She nodded, slightly confused.

'Which department do you work in exactly? I didn't think they gave people a week off.'

'The Department of Magical Law Enforcement: I'm an Auror.'

'And they just gave you a week off?' She sounded outraged. I shrugged my shoulders.

'I'm one of their best aurors, so yes. Where do you work again?'

'The Department of Mysteries.' She paused, then added on the end. 'And I help out in library occasionally.' I laughed at that. Everyone at Hogwarts knew she lived in there.

'Which part of the department do you work in?' I asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

She smiled. 'I can't tell you. Ministry policy. See you tomorrow.' Granger left the kitchen but I didn't follow. I heard her try the front door handle. 'Why is it locked?'

'Sorry…' I went through to the hallway and unlocked the door for her.

'Why was it locked? You only need to lock it when you're in the shower or something.' I shrugged off her comment and repressed the urge to snap at her and tell her that it was none of her business. _You need to make friends, Draco, not enemies. Even if it is Granger._

'I didn't think anyone would be coming around tonight, so I locked up ready.' She nodded with her eyes narrowed slightly, telling me that she didn't quite believe me. Granger glanced at my bag, still sat in the hallway.

'You should unpack. I'll see you tomorrow morning.' She opened the door and I watched her walk down the drive, cross the road and walk towards the house opposite mine. She unlocked the door and went into her house, just as a van stopped outside the house and a thirty-five year old got out all dressed in red carrying a flat, white box.

'Pizza for the Malfoys.' I gave him some money and he handed me the pizza with his eyes slightly narrowed. 'It was a female who called.'

'Yeah, my girlfriend ordered it.' He smiled and got back in the van and drove away. I shut the door and locked it, sliding down against the door to the floor, the box in hand. I just called Hermione Granger my girlfriend.

The muggle world was making me crazy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **Booknerdxx** and **crazychick-1027**!

CHAPTER 2-

At five to nine the next morning, I was sat on the settee in my new living room flipping through the television channels, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I had a nightmare about my father coming to kill me because I was being nice to Hermione Granger, of all people. I took a deep breath: he couldn't hurt me anymore like he used to. I twitched as I remembered and there was a knock on my door.

I walked out into the hallway, shaking off the last of the nightmare, and opened up the door. 'Morning, Granger.'

'Good morning, Malfoy.' She smiled at me, and I felt something inside me stir that I had never felt before, but I repressed it. 'Have you had breakfast?'

'I don't have any food. Besides, I haven't had breakfast since the end of fifth year.'

'You need to eat breakfast, Malfoy. Do you have your money?'

'I'm not totally useless, Granger.' She shook her head, smiling slightly.

'Come on.' She turned away and walked back to her own house and I locked the door behind me, following her across the street and up her drive. She climbed into the driver's seat of her car and I slipped into the passenger seat, putting on the seat belt. She looked at me, rather puzzled. 'How did you know how to do that?'

'Blaise had a car. His dad owned a muggle business. He taught me how to drive. I don't have a license or anything, but I can drive.' She nodded slowly before starting the ignition and putting the car into gear and pulling out of the driveway. I sat up a little in my seat to remember the route for when I needed to go on my own. A few minutes into the journey, Granger started speaking.

'Why did you stop having breakfast at the end of fifth year?' I briefly glanced at her. She was wearing a pink skirt with white top, and her hair was up in a bun, and the freckles were more prominent on her face than yesterday. I repressed the feeling again.

'In the summer after fifth year I was made a death eater. In the days leading up to the ceremony, I got ill. If I ate breakfast in the morning, I would throw up. So I stopped eating. Problem solved.'

'And you haven't ate breakfast since?' I nodded, watching the turns she took. 'You really need to eat, Draco. Coffee doesn't cut it.' We sat in a silence for a few more minutes before I realised what she had said.

'Did you call me Draco?' She nodded, realising her mistake.

'Yes. Sorry. I'll call you Malfoy.'

'It's fine, really. Malfoy reminds me of my dad, and I don't want to think about him.' She nodded, trying to understand what it must have been like for me growing up. Then again, she didn't have any of the facts, so unless she was a mind reader, that would have been a near-impossible task for her. Granger pulled into a car park and we both got out of the car and headed towards a big white building with green lettering on it. 'What kind of name is Asda?'

'I don't know, Draco. I just shop here. Get a trolley.' I took a trolley from the shelter and I pushed it around whilst she explained to me what things I needed to buy, putting things in the trolley for me, occasionally laughing at my bewildered expression.

After about an hour, we paid and left. 'That woman on the till was creepy.'

'Just because she was checking you out.'

'She was seventy years old, Hermione! I'd rather have Pansy Parkinson check me out! Actually, I can't decide who I would rather have check me out: Pansy or the seventy year old.' Hermione began laughing uncontrollably, and I took hold of the steering wheel momentarily until she had calmed down.

She took a deep breath and recomposed herself. 'Did you call me Hermione?'

'Is it okay that I did?'

'It's better than mudblood.' I looked down at my lap as I noticed the sting in her tone.

'Sorry.'

'It's not your fault that your parents are twats. But you did the right thing in the end. I just wished you would have realised what to do sooner.'

'What are you saying?'

She sighed and turned a corner. 'I always thought it was shame that you were sorted into Slytherin. I think you should have been in Ravenclaw. You're really clever, and only acted cunning like a Slytherin. I never thought you were actually as mean as you acted.'

'You got all of that from me?'

'Yeah. I'm good at reading people. Am I right?' I nodded, bewildered once more. 'Come on.' I hadn't noticed, but Hermione had pulled up in the drive of my house. We took the shopping out of the boot of the car and took it into the kitchen, unpacking everything. I made her a cup of tea as thanks, and gave her piece of the cake she had made me.

'You back at work tomorrow?'

'Yep. I still can't believe you get the rest of the week off.'

'I'm not complaining. Potter works in my office. He's actually alright. But Weasley's in the office across the corridor, and I swear he spends more time in our office than his.' She smiled. 'Are you and Weasley-' I suddenly said, but Hermione cut me off.

'No.'

'Bit abrupt. There was a rumour that you two were practically made for each other when we were at school.' She shrugged.

'I had a bit of a crush on him in first year, but that was it. When we kissed during the war, it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. You know, like in films where people think they're going to die so they kiss for the hell of it? It was like that. Besides, he screwed Lavender the night we won.' I nodded.

'What's a film?' She almost choked on her drink.

'Tonight, you are coming round to my house, and we are watching a film whilst eating ice cream together.'

'What time shall I come around?'

'Eight? I would say nine, but I have work in the morning. Wear something comfortable. I warn you now though, we'll probably be watching a rom com.'

'What's a rom-'

She laughed. 'You'll find out. See you later, Draco.' She drained the last of her tea and made her way to the front door. 'Key!' I threw the key out into the hallway, and I heard her pick it up, unlock the door, leave and lock the door from the outside, then post the key back through the letter box. I left them where they were and decided to try and get some more sleep before I went around to her house.

I woke up at half six, drenched in sweat from another nightmare. I got of my bed and took a shower. I hadn't had a nightmare like that since a few nights after the war. I closed my eyes under the constant stream of the water, surrendering to it. _Just forget about it, Draco. Focus on Hermione. _ Whoa! Focus on Hermione? What the hell am I thinking? I do NOT like her. At all.

I thought back to the feelings I had been repressing all day long. They had only been occurring when she was around: when she smiled at me, when I looked at her… I leant against the tiled wall. No. This can't be happening.

I switched off the shower and climbed out, rooting through my wardrobe to find a nice t-shirt to wear for Hermione. _For Hermione? _I pulled on a pair of jeans and looked at the clock to find it was five to eight. That shower must have been longer than I thought. I sighed and went down the stairs and retrieved the key from the floor. I took out my wand and duplicated the key without thinking. I duplicated it once more, put one in my pocket, one in the kitchen drawer, and went across the road to give one to Hermione.

She opened the door as soon as I had knocked. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a crop top, and I began to wonder if I should repress the feeling again. 'Come in.' Hermione smiled and I stepped into the bright hallway of her home. There were pictures along the walls of her family, and then some more of her friends. I tried not to remember that I didn't really have any of either.

'I brought this for you.' I held out the key to her and she took it from me. 'I'm not even sure why, I just thought you should have one. I feel stupid now.' She smiled slightly.

'Don't.' Hermione cocked her head to one side slightly before turning and retrieving her own key from a small dish on a table by her front door. She took out her wand and duplicated it, giving me one. 'Just in case.' She smiled, and I didn't feel stupid anymore. 'Go in the living room. I'll go and get the ice cream.' She breezed past me into the kitchen, a vanilla scent filling the air. My heart rate sped up and I opened the first door on the right, to find it was the living room. I sat down on the settee opposite the television, to find that there was some sort of menu on the screen. I looked at it, slightly puzzled.

'Here you are.' Hermione came in the living room and passed me a full tub of ice cream and a spoon: she had the same herself.

'Thanks, but do you honestly expect me to eat a full tub of this?'

'It's what I do. Besides, it's good stuff.' She smiled, and something inside of me flipped.

'And how often do you do this?'

'When I need to. Usually when I'm upset, but this is because you don't even know what a film is.'

'I don't understand why you're not fat then.' She blushed at this, and looked down at the floor. The blush didn't mean anything: she was probably shocked that I gave her a compliment of sorts. Hermione reached across me for the remote and pressed play, and we watched a film about a girl who chases her ex-boyfriend to a law school to try and win him back.

About halfway through, Hermione briefly glanced at my bandaged arm. She knew my dark mark would be underneath it. I didn't say anything about her own arm. It had a bandage on too, but I guessed the scar would be healing by now, and it would be coming off soon. I remember that happening, that horrible day at the Manor, being forced to watch my Aunt carve that into her arm. I recoiled at the thought. That was the turning point though. Seeing Hermione scream and cry and whimper on the floor of the drawing room made me want to go and kill Voldemort personally. And then I became a spy for the Order of the Phoenix.

A little while later, I had finished my ice cream. Hermione gently poked me in the knee with her toe and I looked at her, chocolate smeared around her lips. 'Told you'd enjoy it.'

'Never said I wouldn't. I think you have as well though.' She brought her hand up to her face and felt the coldness of the ice cream there. She giggled and wiped it away, then grabbed the nearest cushion and hit me with it. 'What the hell was that for?' I asked, feigning offence.

'I don't know, just felt like it.' She grinned and I grabbed the cushion behind me and hit her back. Soon we were running around her house having a pillow fight.

I don't know what happened at the end of the film.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **crazy-chick 1027, Booknerdxx **(Haha, yes it was legally blonde)**, Buffy **and **shaymars**! If you like the Dramione stories where Hermione finds out she is a pureblood, check out my other story that I've just started, check out **Izzy**. If you want a cute Dramione one shot, try **The Proposal**, and if you want a long fic, there's **Spy in the Dark**, which is finished! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 3-

A few weeks after the ice cream and pillow fight incident, Hermione and I had grown close, in a way. I had found out exactly what kind of books she read at Hogwarts, to find out that they were the ones I had read too. Then came the magical creature's rights argument: I'm not going to forget that in a hurry. I'd say we'd become friends, but I wouldn't really know what it's like to have friends. I was good friends with Blaise and Theo who were currently residing in Azkaban, but that was it. I had girls who wanted to date me, and I had lads that either looked up to me or wanted to rip my guts out.

Then there was Hermione.

I couldn't decide whether to call her a friend or an acquaintance. I wasn't her enemy anymore, and she certainly didn't dislike me, but I don't know if having pillow fights was something she did with friends. Maybe she just did it because there was a cushion to hand.

Either way, I knew that the guy arriving at her house a couple of weeks later after work was most definitely a friend. I was placing a photo of me and Blaise on the window ledge in my bedroom when I saw him. He was wearing a suit, and I swear I had seen him around the Ministry. No, wait. I think he was on the Wizengamot. Oh, I don't know. He knocked on her door and Hermione opened it, still in her work clothes. She smiled and my heart flipped and broke: how could she smile at someone else? Those smiles were for me only. _Oh really, now?_

I shook the thought from my head and carried on watching the exchange from my bedroom window. They stood there talking for a moment, laughing occasionally. She invited him in and closed the door. I briefly thought about the key I had to her house. Should I use it? No. I got out some reports I was filing for the Ministry and began to write them up. An hour later, he came out of the house and apparated away after making sure no one was around to watch him disappear.

I was watching though. And I got a very good look at his face. I apparated to the Ministry and went straight up to my office. No one was around, as no one was on a shift at ten o'clock at night in the team of Aurors I was on. I went over to one of the filing cabinets and began to search through all of the folders about males on the Wizengamot.

After half an hour of searching, I found out that I did recognise him: he was on the Wizengamot for my trial. Voted guilty on all charges. Said I should have been put in Azkaban with my parents. I felt my eyes narrow as I grazed over the name at the top of the piece of paper: Richard Stubbs. I couldn't believe Hermione was letting this scum into her home. I ran my fingers through my hair, realising that she had let me into her home. I was scum. You know what? I was lower than scum. She was nothing but nice, and I had bullied her for seven years about something as insignificant as blood. And after that, she was still nice to me. At least I hadn't thrown it back in her face like I had at Hogwarts.

I put the files away and apparated back home, looking over at Hermione's house from my bedroom window. There was a light on upstairs, and I knew that she must be reading before she went to sleep. I tapped the window ledge with my fingers several times before I ran down the stairs, out of the front door and across the road and knocked on Hermione's front door. I looked up at the window and saw her silhouette move. She eventually came and opened the door, wearing nothing but a small pair of shorts and an over-sized t-shirt. It flipped again and began to piece itself back to together.

'Draco? It's quarter to eleven, why are you here? And you have a key: why didn't you let yourself in?'

'I thought it would be creepy to do that in the middle of the night. I wanted to ask you something.'

'And you couldn't wait until morning?'

'Well, you go to work earlier then I do, and you can't get into the department of mysteries without a good reason, and I don't actually know which bit you work in due to Ministry policy.'

She stared at me, with half confused, half tired eyes. 'Come in then.' I stumbled into her dark hallway and went through into her kitchen, switching on the light. 'What was is that couldn't wait then?'

'Am I your friend?'

'I'm sorry?'

'Am I your friend?'

'I heard you the first time. I was wondering why you came over here at this time to ask me whether we were friends or not.'

'What's your answer, Hermione?'

'Yes, I'd say so. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be friends with a mudblood like me.' She looked at the floor, and those words stung once more.

'I want to be friends. I never actually believed all of that blood superiority stuff. I just wanted my dad to be proud of me. I know that sounds stupid but…' I trailed off, not wanting Hermione to know what my dad did to me.

'I think I've worked out why you did it, Draco.' Her voice was so soft and understanding. I looked up at her and warmth shone at me through her honey brown eyes. 'Did he hurt you?' I nodded.

'All of the time. Whenever I disappointed him. Or just for the hell of it. And he hurt my mother, too.' I threw my hands up in the air. 'I don't even know why I'm telling you this.' She placed her warm hand on my arm.

'Because I'm your friend.' I looked into her eyes once more, and before I knew what I was doing, I had hugged her. I wanted to cry too, but since I hadn't done that since I was seven, I managed to hold them back. At first she stood rigid in my arms, but she soon wrapped herself around my torso softly and I breathed in the scent of her coconut shampoo.

'I'm sorry for everything, Hermione.'

'I know you are.' We stood like that for a few more minutes until I eventually let go of her, her scent leaving a trail on my t-shirt. 'I need to get some sleep. I'll see you later.'

I nodded, bid her good night and left the house. I climbed straight into bed, wondering what the hell I did that for. I shook my head and turned to face the window, where Hermione's bedroom light had just clicked off. I'm not sure what convinced me that this guy she was with before was bad news, but I knew before I could say anything to her, I needed to get some evidence.

I think I'll go into work early tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **shaymars,** the person on the **Guest **account, **TennisRebels15** and **Booknerdxx**(Haha, thanks)!

CHAPTER 4-

The next morning, I got up and went to work an hour earlier so I could do a bit of… "research". I placed a glamour charm on my hair and went down to the level that the Wizengamot was on and found Richard Stubbs. Smooth talker among women. He flirted with other members of the jury, including Dolores Umbridge. I felt sick and decided to head to the library to look at the employee's records. This wasn't usually allowed, but aurors were. I found the filing cabinet for S, then his records. His parents had been death eaters, killed by Voldemort. It said nothing about him being a death eater… I certainly don't remember his presence at the meetings, but there were a lot of us.

His past convictions were clear… maybe there was something at school that he did. I found his student records from Hogwarts at the back of the file. A Ravenclaw, my least favourite house. Well, they were useful for homework, but they were dangerous. Hufflepuffs were loyal and a bit too ditzy to harm you. Gryffindors may be reckless, but they didn't do anything too stupid. Slytherins may be cunning and mischievous, but the majority of them were brain-dead. Ravenclaws would be the ones who planned their attacks meticulously for nights on end before going through with it. And they'd get away with it due to their intelligence.

Okay, so he has the brains to hurt Hermione, but unless he was some psychopath, I don't think he had some evil master plan in mind for my neighbour. I looked through his school reports. Exceeds Expectations in all of his OWLs and NEWTs, apart from the Outstanding in charms. I looked through his school reports and found the old papers penned by Professor Flitwick himself. '…outstanding throughout. Has a knack for casting long term and effective glamour charms…' Glamour charms… I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor of the library as I thought. If he was a death eater, he'd need a pretty strong glamour charm to cover up his dark mark. Thinking about it reminded me of the mark wrapped in a bandage on my own arm, but I shook it off, put the files away and went up to my office.

Everyone was gathered around at the front of the room, Potter sat on the front desk. He motioned me to sit next to him and I did so reluctantly, both of us being the head aurors in this office. 'We're going on a mission in a week or so, and when I get the full details, I'll inform you of the date.' Potter handed me a piece of parchment out of his pocket and I began to read it out.

'The following aurors are going on this mission: Potter, me, McCann, Brandwood-Spencer, Holmes and Wilson. Any questions?' No one said anything. 'Let's get back to work then.' Everyone went back to their desks and after I sat down, Potter stood in front of my desk.

'Hermione says you've moved in opposite her.'

'Correct.'

'Don't annoy her, or you will be sorry, Malfoy.'

'I wouldn't even dream of it, Potter.' I smirked up at him and he walked off to his desk whilst I scribbled down all of the information I had about Richard Stubbs. After I had written down what I already had on him, I tapped the quill impatiently on the desk. Why would a death eater want Hermione? Of course, she was part of the Golden Trio, but there had to be a bigger picture that I wasn't seeing. I thought back to all of the death eater meetings and all of the strange rituals they carried out on muggleborns and wrote down the ones that had worked. I narrowed it down to two, one being a simple killing of a muggleborn witch that would bring you luck for about half an hour which worked to some extent and the other was slightly more prolific. It involved taking the virginity of a muggleborn witch, which she would be willing to give to him; but if a certain spell was carried out at the same time, he would consume the witches' magic and she wouldn't be able to perform spells anymore.

I thought about it a little harder. Why go to the trouble of dating Hermione if you just wanted to kill her? It must be the other ritual then. I'm pretty sure Hermione is a virgin, and by dating him would make her willing to give it to him. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, and all of a sudden, I couldn't wait to get home and tell her.

* * *

As soon as I apparated home, I hot footed it across the street and unlocked Hermione's front door. 'Hermione?'

'Kitchen!' I went through and sat down next to her at the breakfast bar reading a book. She turned and smiled at me, but her brow soon furrowed as she saw my facial expression. 'Are you okay? Has something happened at work?'

'Yes, but it has more to do with you.' She raised her eyebrows at me. 'Richard Stubbs.'

'What about him?' She asked incredulously.

'You need to stop seeing him.'

'What? Why?'

'I read his records in the libra-'

'You read his records?!' I stood up and nodded, wandering around her kitchen which was almost identical to mine.

'Just listen.' She pursed her lips before nodding. 'I don't know if you've heard about this, but you might have from the amount of reading you do, but I think he might try and perform the virginity ritual on you.' She closed the book and stood up.

'Yeah right, Draco. For a start, it doesn't exist, and secondly, what makes you think that I'm a virgin?' I raised my eyebrows at her and she huffed. 'Fine. But the ritual is a myth.'

'No, it's not.'

'And how come you're such an expert then?' She put her hands on her hips and pouted her lips, and my heart rate speeded up.

'My father made me watch him do it.' I replied abruptly. 'Just be careful. I don't think Potter and Weasley could handle it if you lost your magic. Or you for that matter.' We stared at each for a moment or so before I turned and left her house, locking the door behind me. She was in danger, surely she could see that. I couldn't stop her from seeing him though: this was Hermione Granger we were talking about, just about the only person who could control Potter and Weasley. If she was in danger, she would be able to get out of it.

Hopefully.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **shaymars, Booknerdxx**(Sorry! Just started back at college so everything's kind of getting on top of me. I'll try and make them a little longer though)**, crazycchick-1027** and **JennyBean23**(Thank you!)!

CHAPTER 5-

A few weeks later, things between me and Hermione had been cold, to say the very least. We went shopping together at the supermarket once a week together, since she had a car and I didn't, but the conversation was practically non-existent, and she only commented when she saw someone checking me out. I watched people around the shop check her out too, and it annoyed me no end. They all looked at her with raised eyebrows and a leering expression on their faces, telling me that their thoughts were far from pure, and I had to repress the urge of punching them, settling instead for glaring at them, which didn't exactly do much.

One night after work, I was sat on my bedroom working on reports once more when Stubbs knocked on Hermione's front door. I sat up straighter to get a proper look. Hermione answered the door and was wearing a short black dress and her curls were up in a bun. I leapt up and stood by the window. Stubbs took her hand and kissed it and she smiled. I tilted my head to one side. If Hermione really did like him, she would have blushed at that. Had my warning put her off him?

She glanced up at my window and our eyes locked, my heart beginning to pound. I shook my head at her, telling her not to. She bit her lip and Richard said something to her. She looked back at him laughed, locked her front door and they apparated away. I felt my fists clench and I managed not to punch something. I grabbed my wand and a book and sat outside in the front garden, waiting for Hermione to return home, even if it was getting dark.

At around eleven o'clock, my next door neighbour, Anthony, who I had spoken to once or twice, came outside and asked me if I was okay. I nodded and he went back into his house, probably thinking I was a weirdo. Right now, the only person's opinion I cared about was Hermione, and she might be in danger. At quarter to midnight, there was a silent clapping sound and Hermione appeared alone on her driveway.

I leapt up and ran across the road just as she was unlocking the door. She entered her house and began to close the door, but I put my hand on it before she could. 'Come in, Draco.' She opened the door once more and we stood in the darkness of her hallway. We both lit our wands with lumos, and I could see the faint stains of tears.

'What happened?'

'Nothing.'

'Meaning?'

She shot me a venomous look. 'I still have my virginity, if that's what you mean.'

'I didn't mean that, Hermione. You've been crying. What's happened?' She sighed and sat down on her stairs and I stood opposite her.

'We went out for dinner, and it was lovely. I thought he might have checked out one of the waitress', but I just ignored it. Halfway through the meal, Richard went to the toilet. Ten minutes had passed and he hadn't returned. I went to go see if he was alright, and I found him outside of the toilets kissing the waitress. I shot him a stinging hex, told him it was over and left the restaurant, and I wandered around London for quite a while, crying, before I apparated home.'

'Why were you crying?'

'Because I didn't want you to be right.'

'We don't know I am right. He was just chatting up and getting off with someone, that doesn't mean he's going to carry out the ritual. But I already knew about the flirting with other women thing.'

She looked up at me. 'Oh?'

'Yeah. I put a glamour on myself and went down to the Wizengamot level and found him flirting with the other women down there, including Umbridge. I probably should have warned you about that too.'

'Why did you use a glamour charm?' I sighed.

'He was on the Wizengamot for my trial and said I should be sent to Azkaban for life: I didn't want him recognising me.' She nodded, understanding. 'Are we good now?'

'What do you mean?'

'We fell out, didn't we? After I told you about the ritual?' She laughed quietly and shook her head.

'No. Sorry if you thought that. It's just my parents haven't been very happy with me, and I guess I took it out on you.' I sat down next to her on the stairs.

'What's happened?'

'Well, for a start, I wiped their memories and made them move to Australia so Voldemort couldn't hurt them. I restored their memories after the war, and when I told them what I did they were pretty annoyed at me, but forgave me. Then I told them I worked at the Ministry, and they just lost it. They wanted me to become a dentist, like them. Surely they could have known I would have wanted to do something in the magical world.' I nodded.

'I'm sure you'll work it out.' I said, not knowing whether I'd be right: the relationship that I had with my parents was far from good. 'I'll see tomorrow. Night, Hermione.'

'Good night, Draco.' I stepped out of her house and went back over to mine, picking up the book from my front lawn before going inside and to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **JennyBean23, Booknerdxx**(Haha, thank you!) and **TennisRebels15**!

CHAPTER 6-

A day or so later, I was sat at my desk at work, and two of my colleagues, McCann and Brandwood-Spencer, the only females in the office, who were also dating each other, were gossiping about the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. From what I could gather, someone had been found guilty of performing the virginity ritual. I ran out of the office and down to the main foyer and paid the newspaper boy a knut for a copy of the newspaper, to find Stubbs' picture on the front cover. I scanned through the article to find that he had performed the virginity ritual on a young waitress.

I jumped into the nearest lift and went to the Department of Mysteries, realising doing so was absolutely pointless as I had no idea which bit Hermione worked in due to Ministry policy, and there was no way the receptionist would let me see her, but it was worth a try. 'Is Hermione Granger here?' I asked the receptionist as soon as I arrived.

'Yes. She is at her desk.'

'Can I speak with her?'

'Not unless you know which department she works in.'

'But you know that's against Ministry Policy.' She shrugged, telling me that wasn't her problem. 'Can I leave her a message?' She smiled and took out a piece of parchment and a quill. 'Tell her I need to speak to her as soon as she gets home.'

'Who should I say it's from?'

'Draco Malfoy.' She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

'Are you sure you want me to send this? To Hermione Granger? From Draco Malfoy?' I nodded and left the department to go back up to my own. I decided against the lift and took the stairs. I was right. And I didn't want to be. I just wanted Hermione to be happy. _And hopefully her happiness could be found in my arms_. I shook my head, taking the thought out of my mind. Hermione would probably be upset, and that meant taking care of her, not taking advantage of her. I ran my fingers through my hair, and after about fifteen minutes, I had dawdled back to my Auror office.

'Where the hell have you been?'

'Not now, Potter. I had something to sort.'

'Work or personal?'

'Why the hell would I tell you?' I gave Potter a cold stare, but McCann came and interrupted us.

'Sorry to interrupt your face-off, but an owl just came with for you both.' The woman with rainbow streaks in her hair handed me a piece of parchment and I gave it to Potter after I read it.

'Mission details.'

'Right, I'll call a meeting after work for everyone who's going.'

'You mean tonight?'

'Yes. Problem?' I clenched my jaw. No, no problem at all. Other than the fact my neighbour and your best friend almost had her magic taken away from her.

'No. That's fine.'

* * *

I finished work an hour later than usual, and as soon as I apparated home, I practically ran across the road. Luckily, this neighbourhood was always quiet during the week, so no one was about to run me over. I rammed my key into her front door and began to shout her name as soon as I entered. 'Hermione?' I searched her house, and it didn't look like anyone had been in here since this morning. I checked her back garden and the small shed at the back of it, but she wasn't around. I went back into the house and sat down in the living room and watched her television.

The clock chimed, telling me that it was almost eleven. I went up to the spare bedroom and took a blanket to sleep on the settee with, in case she came home.

She didn't.

It continued for a few days: me going down to her department and leaving a note, then sleeping on her settee. Four days after the first night, I was exhausted. It's not like her settee was that comfortable to sleep on, plus the fact that I was really worried about her had made me partially insomniac.

The next day at work, after I had delivered my usual note, I was sat in my office doing some paperwork ready for upcoming mission when there was an announcement for several people to go for a meeting with the Minister of Magic. Hermione's name was announced, and I began to think up excuses to see her. I couldn't intercept her on the way to the meeting, but I could get her on the way back.

I took a piece of paper from my desk and walked towards Potter's. 'I'm going to get this photocopied.' I told him and he nodded. I quickly left the room before he could latch on to the fact that we photocopied work with our wands. Or questioned how I knew what a photocopier actually was.

There was only one corridor leading to the Minister's office, so they would have to return this way when he had finished talking to them. I hid in an alcove, hoping that when they finally did emerge from the office, Hermione would stay at the back. Fifteen minutes later, the door to the office opened, and a troupe of people walked down the corridor talking amongst themselves. I watched everyone pass, and sure enough, at the back of the group, was Hermione. She was wearing a pencil skirt, but it hung off her, and she walked with her shoulders slumped. My heart clenched at how broken she looked, and I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the alcove.

'Wha- Draco.' She seemed breathless, and I could feel all of the bones in her hand.

'Have you been eating?' She looked away from me and removed her small hand from mine. 'I said have you been eating?' I raised my voice slightly, and she flinched a little, and I was instantly sorry. She shook her head. 'When did you last sleep?' She shrugged, and the blazer she was wearing sagged a little. 'What's happened?' She shook her head and began to go back out into the corridor, but I spun her back around. 'That pencil skirt you're wearing used to fit your hips perfectly, and every guy who works here would stare after you when you walked away. Now they just look at you almost mournfully. What's happened?' She looked at the floor. 'Is it because of Stubbs?'

At the mention of his name, she looked up at me and practically threw herself against my chest. She began to wail into my shirt, and I carefully wrapped my hands around her shaking body, rubbing my hands up and down her back in a soothing motion, ignoring the feel of her spine beneath my fingers. When her crying subsided a little, I whispered to her gently. 'He can't hurt you now. He's been locked up.' She pulled away from me a little and looked up at me with her glassy eyes.

'But the waitress… it was the waitress I found him with. And it was on the night I ended it. I could have been me without magic…' She began to face the floor once more, but I gently put my hands on her cheeks and she looked up at me.

'But it's not you, that's the main thing.' She nodded. 'I need to get you home.' We took the lift to her department and she signed out for the day, telling the receptionist that she had an urgent appointment at St. Mungo's. I went up to my office, but told Hermione to wait at the end of the Auror corridor, as she didn't want to talk to anybody, but she knew the majority of the people working in the offices here.

'You took your time.' I glanced at Potter and made me way to my desk, grabbing my paperwork and putting them into my satchel. 'Where are you going now?'

'The person who lives next door to me have just called: their house has been flooded.'

'Hermione's house has been flooded?'

'Don't be ridiculous. Her- Granger lives opposite me. And why would she call me if her house had been flooded?' He nodded and I left before he could call me back and ask how in the world someone would ever call me.

'Ready?' I asked Hermione as I returned to where she was stood. She nodded and we held hands as we apparated to her house.

'It's been a few days since I've been back here.' She said as we made our way from the back garden to unlock the back door. As soon as she opened it, Crookshanks had appeared and was curling around her legs. She gasped. 'He hasn't had any food!'

'I fed him.' She nodded and I made my way to the living room and began folding up the blanket. 'How did you get your clothes?'

'I acciod them to work.' I nodded and she watched me. 'I don't remember putting that in here…'

'That's because I did. I've been sleeping here every night in case you came home.' Hermione sat down on the settee. 'Did you get my notes?' She smiled at this.

'Yes. You should have seen Rebecca's face when she delivered them to me. She just could not understand why you, of all people, were sending me notes.' I smiled, realising Rebecca must be the receptionist.

'Go and get changed into some comfy clothes.' She opened her mouth, wanting to protest but I spoke again before she could. 'Hermione, you've probably been sleeping in some abandoned department in the ministry building, the only contact you've had for days is Rebecca, you've been starving yourself and you're clearly depressed. Go upstairs, take a shower, and put on your pyjamas. I am not taking no for an answer.' She huffed off upstairs, throwing her blazer on the floor as she went. 'Leave your clothes outside of the bathroom so I can put your washing machine on!' I shouted after her.

'Whatever, Malfoy!' Well, the real Hermione was back. She stomped around upstairs for a bit before I heard her lock the bathroom door. I went upstairs and laid some pyjamas out on her bed, and took the clothes from outside of the bathroom and put them in the washing machine. I fed Crookshanks, got some ice cream out of the freezer, and put a film on. I left it on the menu, and about ten minutes later, Hermione came down the stairs in pink pyjamas and gave me a curious look. 'Why are you doing this?'

'You said you do this when you get upset.' I replied, thinking she was referring to the film menu.

'No, I mean, WHY are you helping me?'

I sighed. Because I have a crush on you? 'Because I've seen my mum in this state before, depressed, insomniac, starving herself… it was horrible. One way to put it: she's broken. After everything good that you've done in this world, you do not deserve to break. Especially not over some prick like Richard Stubbs.'

She gave me a hard stare before sitting down on the settee. 'What film is it?'

'National Treasure.'

'I like this one.' She curled up and I put a blanket over her. 'Thank you.' She said, and reached for the ice cream.

'Don't eat it too fast, or you'll throw up.' She nodded and looked over at me. I was sat on the other settee, and had pulled out some paperwork.

'I don't bite, you know. You can sit on the same settee as me.' I smiled and sat next to her, but after 20 minutes into the film, I had abandoned my paperwork and grabbed a spoon from the kitchen, and we shared the ice cream. After we finished the ice cream, Hermione rested her head on my shoulder, and I had to try hard not to sigh contently at her touch. The film ended and I switched off the DVD played and television with the remote that was on my arm of the settee.

'Hermione, the film's finished.' She didn't move. I glanced down at her and found that she had fallen asleep against my body. Freckles lightly dusted her cream cheeks, and the end of her nose shone in the dim light of the lamp. Her lips were pursed slightly, and they were a little wet still from the ice cream. It took all I had not to kiss her, and after about five minutes of staring at her, I lifted her up in my arms and began to carry her up the stairs to her bedroom. I could feel all of her bones underneath the pyjamas she was wearing, and I looked down sadly at the beautiful woman in my arms.

When I reached her room, I had to open the door with my elbow, the movement making Hermione rouse slightly, snuggling further into my body. 'Draco…'

'Shhhh. Just putting you in bed.' She nodded slowly and I put her underneath the covers of her double bed, with every intention of going home and coming back the next morning to check on her.

'Stay.' Hermione had caught my hand as I turned to go. 'I have a spare room.' I nodded, went next door and sat on the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to supress the feelings I had for the witch several metres away from me. As I opened my eyes, I felt even more awake. I sighed and took out my wand, and began to try and perfect my patronus.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **TennisRebels15 **and **crazychick-1027**! Enjoy, guys!

CHAPTER 7-

The next morning, I was sat downstairs in the kitchen sipping coffee in an attempt to wake myself up. Hermione came in the kitchen, running her fingers through her already messy hair. 'Sleep well?' She shrugged and began to boil the kettle for some coffee herself, but I levitated two pieces of bread into the toaster for her. 'You need to eat.' She smirked at me sleepily and levitated two more slices in.

'Then so do you.' She made her coffee and sat down at the breakfast bar. 'Why were you practicing your patronus?'

'I couldn't sleep, and I have an Auror mission coming up. There's a chance there'll be Dementors, so I thought I'd practice. Did I wake you up?' I asked, raising my voice in concern.

She shook her head. 'I just saw the light under my door. I got to sleep okay though.' The toast popped up, and she levitated it over to the slab where she began to butter it. 'When's this Auror mission?'

'Next Wednesday. Probably be gone for nearly two days.' She nodded softly. 'Will you be okay without me?'

'I'm okay now without you.' She bit her lip and curled a strand of hair behind her ear. Liar.

'Right. So that's why you asked me to stay last night.' She looked up at me.

'I just… didn't want to be alone.' I nodded, still not believing her, but I wasn't going to push her for an answer. She took two of the pieces of toast and began to leave the room. 'I need to get ready for work. Drop by later, yeah?'

'Sure.' She went upstairs and I drained my coffee, before I ate my first breakfast in nearly three years.

* * *

'And I thought your patronus would be a ferret.' Over a week later, me and the assigned Auror team apparated back to our office at the Ministry as soon as the mission was over. There were unfortunately Dementors involved, and the only happy memories I had were a day out to Diagon alley with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, my pillow fight with Hermione and the look on her beautiful face the other night when she asked me to stay. I admit they weren't the strongest of memories, as I hadn't experienced much happiness in my life, but as soon I started thinking about Hermione, my patronus of a fox became stronger than it ever had done before.

I scowled at Potter's comment. 'Whatever. I'm going home. Can we do the report tomorrow?'

'Sure. We all need a rest.' Having estimated that this mission would take up two days, I was happy that we had finished several hours early, at seven o'clock instead of at eleven o'clock. I apparated home and intended on taking a shower before going to see Hermione, as she would have finished work by now. After I had entered through the back door, I began to make my way upstairs, but the phone started ringing. I sighed and went into the living room to answer it.

'Hello?'

'Oh, Draco!' Hermione. I smiled, slightly scolding myself for not recognising her number on the caller ID screen. 'Thank Merlin that you're home. I didn't think you'd be back for a few more hours.'

'What is it?'

'I need some… assistance. Can you come over? I'm upstairs. You'll need to use your key.'

'Alright, hang in there.' I ended the call, found Hermione's key and walked swiftly over to the other side of the street, fully aware I was still wearing my Auror robes, complete with the golden M of the Ministry of Magic embellishing them. 'Hermione?' I called when I unlocked the door.

'Bedroom!' I climbed up the stairs and opened the door to Hermione's bedroom to find her sat on the desk at the far end of the room with her knees drawn to her chest with her mobile next to her.

'What is it?' She pointed at the floor, and there was a spider. It was fairly small, and I tried not to laugh that the best friend of The-Boy-Who-Lived called me over to get rid of a spider. 'Do you want me to Avada it?'

'That's cruel, Draco! Just levitate it out of the window or something.' I smirked and did as she asked, her standing up as soon as I shut the window.

'Who would have thought that the great Hermione Granger would have been afraid of a spider.'

'Well… I've always been okay with them, but since that defence against the dark arts lesson in fourth year with Mad Eye Moody… I just can't seem to be able to look at one rationally. I surprised you can, considering.'

'I'd rather not talk about that.' She laughed and we sat at the foot of her bed. 'How are you?'

'Much better. You do realise that you walked across a muggle street wearing your Auror robes? The pants and the boots are fine, albeit a little strange. Your over coat is a different story.' I stood up and began to take off the double-breasted powdery blue coat.

'I was going to take a shower, then you called.' As the coat fell to the floor, I sat back down.

'Oh, sorry. How did the mission go?'

'Yeah, great. My patronus came in handy.'

'Please say it's not a ferret.' I narrowed my eyes at her playfully and cast Expecto Patronum, and a silver fox jumped up onto her lap. 'That's such a cute patronus!' Hermione conjured up hers, and an otter joined my fox, and they soon began to play with each other on the bed. We eventually let go of our happy memories, and they faded away. 'Yours doesn't seem very strong.'

'I don't have a lot of happy memories…' I said, shrugging it off.

'What did you use?' I looked up at her, noticing how close together we were sat.

'The look on your face the other night when you asked me to stay.' I looked into her warm chocolate eyes, and the pupils dilated as she realised what I was saying. I leaned into her, but didn't go any further. She was still fragile after what happened with Stubbs, and I didn't know if she was ready to begin to forgive me for everything I did back at Hogwarts yet.

Hermione's breathing quickened, and she tilted her head upwards. Taking this as her granting me permission, I captured her lips in mine and her eyes fluttered gracefully shut as she kissed me back. I wrapped my hands around her small waist, and she put one of her hands on my left arm, the other around my neck, closing any remaining distance between us. Hermione eventually pulled away from me, breathless, and I smiled at her.

She looked downwards whilst blushing, and then looked to my left arm, where the bandage covering my dark mark had fallen off. She looked down sadly at it, then her eyes narrowed. 'That's strange.'

'There's nothing strange about a dark mark, Hermione. It's just evil.'

'But there's redness around yours. You've had it since the start of sixth year. It shouldn't be red anymore…' I got up and grabbed my Auror coat, knowing what she was about to say. 'You didn't take it willingly. And you still haven't accepted it.' Tears formed in her eyes and I walked out of her bedroom, not wanting to hear her call me a coward.

'Goodbye, Hermione.' I apparated to my back garden and locked myself in my house, leaving the keys in the doors so she couldn't get in: it wasn't like she could go around using alohomora in a muggle neighbourhood.

I went upstairs and laid down on my bed, thinking about my initiation night. My mum stayed with me the hour previous, telling me everything would be alright, then another death eater, Greyback, came to take me down to the drawing room. I refused Lord Voldemort, but my father forced my hand forwards and threatened to cruciatus me. I looked down at the skull and snake, seeing that it was more red than black. I sighed, had a shower, then went to sleep.

* * *

The next day, whilst the majority of my office had gone to lunch, I began writing up my section of the mission report. There was me, Wilson, Watson and Smith, who had already gone for lunch, but they were now all sat chatting or throwing balls of parchment in the bin instead of working.

'Draco.'

My head snapped up and I saw Hermione stood in front of my desk looking down at me with a pleading look in her eyes. 'Afternoon, Hermione.' I took a pile of papers from my desk and began putting them away into filing cabinets around the room so I wouldn't have to look directly at her as she followed me around the room. 'Can I help you with something?'

'What happened last night?'

'You know what happened last night. You said something I didn't like, so I left. Problem solved.' I sat back down at my desk and she stood in front of it once more.

'You know what I'm talking about, Draco.'

Of course I did. The kiss. This kiss from Hermione that took away all of the pain in my life. 'Can we do this later? I don't really want Potter to come in and see this.'

'It's not like you can't retort back.'

'I'd rather not argue with him. I have a lot on my mind.'

'Really? Like what?'

'You!' I exploded, standing up. 'You're always there! In my thoughts, in my dreams, across the road, around the ministry… I just want to be with you all of the time.' Hermione smiled at me, surprised I had said that, and one of the three Aurors began to choke on their water. I took a deep breath. 'Please, later. We'll talk at home.' She nodded breathlessly before skipping out of the room happily. 'Any of you three say a word to Potter and I'll Avada you. What happens in this office, stays in this office.'

'So, we can tell Harry when he comes back?'

'No! Don't tell him at all. Actually, screw Potter.' One of them looked up at me in surprise. 'Not literally, Wilson. Just don't tell anybody, alright? Or you will live to regret it.'

* * *

The rest of the day dragged, knowing that I had to wait several hours to be with Hermione. I wrote quickly with the quill, and managed to finish several assessments that didn't need to be handed in for a few weeks yet. I tapped my quill impatiently on my desk, waiting for the clock hand to hit the fifth hour. After what seemed like forever, I grabbed my briefcase and practically ran out of the room, like I used to when a lesson at Hogwarts ended. I arrived at the apparation point and eventually landed in my back garden.

It took me a while to get my key in the lock: I was becoming desperate now. I finally got it in and went through to the hallway, where I found Hermione sat down by the front door. She slowly rose and blushed as I smiled at her. I walked over to her, putting my briefcase on the stairs. I was eventually stood right in front of her, and I stroked her cheek with my right hand. She bit her lip, and I fell a little bit deeper for her.

'Are you sure you want this, Hermione? I understand if you want to leave and never speak to me again.' She put her hand on top of mine.

'Draco… I've wanted this for a very long time. And now here you are, across the street from me. You've been redeemed, and your dark mark-'

'Please don't talk about that.' Hermione eventually nodded and I kissed her softly. I wrapped my arms around her waist and guided her into the living room, where I sat on the settee with her on my knee, wearing the pencil skirt which she had just about grown back into. I pulled away from Hermione, resting my forehead against hers. She was blushing, and I could barely see her freckles that the sun had kissed onto her face. I reached behind her a let her hair fall out of its' bun, and her curls framed her face. Hermione's pupils had dilated and I reached out and stroked the side of her face once more. 'You're so beautiful.' She looked away from me and spoke quietly.

'Stop lying…' My heart broke a little, knowing the depression she experienced after Stubbs wold have lowered her self-esteem

'I'm not. You're the most beautiful person alive.' I kissed her again and soon she was running her fingers through my hair and across my shoulders. Someone knocked on the door but we carried on. They knocked again and I growled impatiently. On the third knock, Hermione pulled away from me.

'You need to answer it, Draco. It might be important.' I tried to kiss her again, but she moved her head away from me. 'I'll be here when you get back.' They knocked again. I removed Hermione from my knee and opened the front door, being taken aback at what I saw.

'Draco…' I looked upon my mother, who was wearing the same dress she had on during the battle at Hogwarts, but now it was torn and dirty. Her platinum blond hair was tangled and looked like it had lice or something crawling through her locks. Black bags surrounded her eyes and her lips were chapped and dry.

'Mother.' She fainted and I quickly levitated her inside.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed. I had a drama essay, English coursework, psychology revision and finishing off my UCAS form, but I still wanted to give you a chapter. Thank you to my reviewers **ii-V-I**(Thank you!), **TennisRebels15, crazychick-1027** and **Lizzie1227**! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 8-

My mother was led unconscious on the floor of my hallway, and for the first time in a while, I didn't know what to do. 'Hermione!' She came out of the living room and her eyes widened when she saw who was there. 'What do I do?'

'Levitate her to your bathroom and run the water. When it's full, put her in it.'

'Hermione, I don't really want to see my mother naked.'

'Please, Draco. Just try and not to look. I need to go and get some things from Asda.'

'You're choosing now to go shopping?!'

Hermione held onto me by the shoulders. 'I need to go and get some pain killers and bandages for your mum, as well as some head lice moose and some bigger clothes. I don't have them at my house so I need to go and buy them. I'll try and be quick. Try not to get your hair anywhere near your mother's, and throw away her dress, too. I won't be long.' She kissed me on the cheek and ran out of the front door and jumped into her car.

Following Hermione's orders, I levitated my mother upstairs and led her on the floor of the bathroom as I ran the water. I used a spell to take her clothes off, and, after the bath was full, I levitated her into the water, thankful that I had put in bubble bath. I took her dress outside and cast incendio on it, and after it had burnt considerably, I cast aguamenti on it to extinguish the fire, then put it in the grey bin outside (**A/N: **In Britain, this is basically the bin where we put all of the non-recyclable stuff in) before going to sit in my bathroom with my mother.

About fifteen minutes later, Hermione returned with a white and turquoise cardboard box in her hands. 'I need to wash your mum's hair with this. You don't have to stay.' I nodded and left the room whilst Hermione applied some thick white moose to the platinum blond locks on my mother's head, then went through it with a small toothed brush.

I sat out on the landing and watched Hermione comb through my mother's hair. When she was about halfway through it, she woke up. 'W-where am I?'

'You're in Draco's bathroom. I'm getting your head lice out for you.'

'You're Hermione Granger, aren't you?' She nodded. 'Why are you helping me?'

'Because you were forced into taking your dark mark. Like Draco.' I got up and came into the bathroom at this point, kneeling down besides Hermione and took my mother's wet hand in my dry one.

'How are you doing?'

'A little better now.' She shifted her eyes to Hermione, and I rolled my lips together, the actions telling her I'd explain later.

'How did you get out of Azkaban?' My mother lifted her hand out of the water to show me her wrist. Her dark mark was fading, as it was older than mine, but it had the redness around it still.

'One of the prisoner officers noticed the redness and brought a healer in to see me. The redness means I didn't take it willingly, so I was allowed out of Azkaban.' She glanced down at my arm, which I had left exposed. 'You need to tell a healer.' I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything. Luckily, Hermione spoke.

'All done, Mrs Malfoy. Dry yourself off when you're ready, and I've got some clothes here in your size. I'll be making some food downstairs in the kitchen for you. I'll heal your cuts later.'

'Thank you, Hermione.'

'Come on, Draco.' She took my hand and we went downstairs, where Hermione put a ready meal in the microwave, then boiled the kettle for a cup of tea, as well as filling up a glass of water which she dropped a dissolvable paracetamol in to. I sat down on a stool and watched Hermione move around my kitchen.

'Thank you.'

'What for?' She came and stood in front of me, and I put my hands around her waist.

'I didn't know what to do.' She smiled and hugged me, and I breathed in her scent. After a few seconds, she pulled away.

'I suppose you're going to ask me now.' I narrowed my eyes at her, watching her blush under my gaze. 'If you want me to be your girlfriend?'

'Oh, no. I was going to ask you if you would like to date me.'

'I didn't think you did that kind of thing, _Malfoy_.' She smiled at me.

'I may have been a bully, but I am also a gentlemen to those people who I like, _Granger_.' I kissed her on the cheek. 'I've never actually had a proper girlfriend. I just dated people for a few weeks. And all of them were pretty much soulless. I want to get to know you better. Plus, I didn't think you were ready for a relationship after Stubbs.'

Hermione shrugged. 'I'll date you then. You can cook me dinner first, to see how your cooking skills have improved.' She stuck her tongue out at me and I pulled a face at her.

'Prepare to be amazed then.' Hermione threw her head back and laughed, her curls bouncing as she did. She caught me staring at her again and blushed, biting her lip. I pulled her closer to me and kissed her. I felt her smile, but the noise on the stairs made Hermione jump away from me so she was stood by the cooker.

I looked up and saw my mother stood in the doorway to the kitchen wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She didn't look much happier than when I had opened the door to her, but at least she was clean. The microwave pinged and Hermione began to sort out the meal inside. I beckoned my mother to come over to the breakfast bar and she sat down next to me, her hands shaking a little. I passed her the paracetamol drink and the cup of tea as Hermione brought over the plate with lasagne on it and got a knife and fork.

'Thank you.' My mother drained the glass of water in one gulp, then moved onto the tea, drinking more slowly due to the heat. As she moved onto the meal, Hermione decided to leave.

'Draco, I'm going to go home. I've got some paperwork to do for work.' I nodded and walked her to the front door.

'Will I see you tomorrow?' She nodded.

'I promised Harry that I'd have lunch with him in his office tomorrow.' I smiled.

'I meant here.'

'Am I allowed? I mean, your mum…'

I cut her off. 'Will be fine with it. She's not my father, she didn't ever force the blood purity stuff on me, and she doesn't believe it. My father was…' I trailed off, transferring my gaze from Hermione to the wall behind her head.

'It's alright.' She took my hand and squeezed it softly, letting me know that she was here for me. 'You don't need to explain. Can you do healing spells?' I nodded. 'You'll need to heal your mother, okay?'

I nodded once more. 'Will I see you tomorrow though?'

'Yes. I'll come around after work.' She kissed me on the cheek and turned to leave, but I pulled her back by the hand and kissed her properly.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewer **Booknerdxx**(Thank you! I always love hearing from you because you're so awesome!). I'm so sorry that this chapter is late, I was very busy as I had to write up notes for the first two volumes of Frankenstein in one day. I hope you enjoy the chapter! hsx

CHAPTER 9-

'Care to explain?' My mother asked when I returned to the kitchen, and I noticed that she was halfway through the ready meal Hermione had made for her. I went to the fridge and took out two more: another for her, one for me.

'Well, you know that I was punished for taking the mark, so I was sent to live here. On the first day, Hermione came to give me a cake because I was her new neighbour. We recognised each other and after some apologising, she agreed to help me adapt to things in the muggle world. And you can probably guess what happened after that.' I switched the microwave back on and put in her ready meal. 'Would you care to explain about your mark then?'

'I already have, Draco. The guard noticed the redness, called for a healer and he found out the problem. I was released. If you make your case, you can do the exact same thing.' I looked at my mother as the microwave beeped. 'How long have you been with Hermione?'

I took the meal out of the microwave and put the other one in. 'Do we really have to have a conversation about this?' I turned around and she nodded. 'I got back from an Auror mission yesterday evening, and she needed help with this spider that was in her bedroom. We ended up kissing, but she saw my dark mark and I left before anything could happen. She came to my office at lunch today to confront me, we argued, but I admitted my feelings for her and she came around here after work, then you did too.' She nodded and began the second ready meal as I took the other out of the microwave and began to eat.

'Are you at work tomorrow?' I nod.

'I have the weekends free. I'll show you how everything in the house works tomorrow before I leave. Will you be okay on your own?'

'I should be.' I nodded and we sat in a comfortable silence for the next half an hour before she announced that she needed some sleep.

* * *

After checking what time Potter was having his lunch in the office, I got mine delivered for the same time, saying I needed to do some work, which strictly speaking, wasn't a complete lie. I was considering what my mother had told me, about her dark mark. I was having the same problem, and if I remember correctly, so were several of my housemates. The girls seemed fairly proud to have received their mark, and the redness had died down in a week, as the area was always inflamed. Crabbe and Goyle were the same, completely willing. But Blaise and Theo were in the same boat as me, their parents forced them into offering up their services. And I remember the redness on the wrists that was still present the last time I saw them, just after the war ended.

Tapping my quill against the desk and taking a sip of my pumpkin juice, I wrote down their names and tried to think of more of the older Slytherins that had redness around their marks. Tracey Davis always had it, as did Daphne Greengrass. Her sister, Astoria, and Pansy were more than happy to serve the Dark Lord. I added Daphne and Tracey to the list and rested my quill in the ink pot.

Great. Four names, plus me. There must be other people in the Wizarding world who were forced into this. I nodded to myself and began to think of way to help them, just as the door opened. I looked up and saw Hermione, who was staring at me. I smirked, in case Potter was watching, and she smiled quietly.

'Hermione!' Her head snapped to Potter's direction and she smiled even wider, letting him hug her.

'It's good to see you, Harry.' He led her over to his desk, where I noticed there were now two extra chairs. One for Hermione, one for…

'Sorry if I'm a late, you two.' I rolled my eyes as Weasel's inexorable voice and began to eat my sandwich whilst looking through some paperwork, trying not to listen to the Weasel ramble on, who was not letting Hermione or Potter get a word in edge ways. I heard a slight snickering behind me and I looked up to see Wilson stood next to my desk.

'Problem, Wilson?'

'No problem, Malfoy. Just that Hermione keeps on staring at you.' He grinned, obviously remembering what happened at yesterday lunch time. I dared a glance across at Potter's desk and saw Hermione softly staring at me. I caught her eye and smiled, and she turned away, blushing.

'It's fine. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't say it so loudly.' He sighed and leaned over my desk.

'Why are you writing down a list of death eaters?' He asked, referring to the piece of parchment with Blaise's name at the top.

'Old friends. Thinking of sending them some letters.' Wilson nodded, one of the only men I had met who was eager for gossip.

'I heard your mother was released early from Azkaban yesterday. How did she manage to swing that one?'

'Good behaviour.' He opened his mouth to question me, but I spoke again before he could. 'Wilson, if you want some gossip, go and buy a Daily Prophet downstairs or find a female who cares for your pointless conversation topics.' He narrowed his eyes at me before stalking back to his desk, and I took another glance at Hermione when it suddenly clicked. When we had been younger, she had done that S.P.E.W campaign. Something about house elves… anyway, it was a campaign nonetheless, and if I could get war heroine Hermione Granger to back a plan to free unwilling death eaters, then everyone else would follow. I grinned and ate the rest of my lunch, but just as one of the Ministry house elves, all dressed in green and gold, came to collect the empty class and plate, Hermione and Ron begun to argue.

'I said no, Ron.'

'Hermione, we are made for each other. Ask anyone who went to Hogwarts. Right, Harry?' Potter looked up from his desk, his mouth slightly open.

'Ermm…'

'Exactly.' The Weasel turned back to Hermione and snatched her delicate hand up in his sweaty one. 'Come on, Hermione. Just say yes.'

I felt anger rise within me. I know Hermione wasn't actually my girlfriend, but we were having our first date this Saturday, and we had kissed before, and that Weasel had absolutely no right to touch my Hermione without her permission. She struggled out of his grasp and took a step backwards.

'No, Ronald. I don't have any feelings for you, and besides, there's someone else.' Judging by the look in Hermione's eyes, I could tell that she was having a hard time not glancing at me. The Weasel still persisted.

'But, Hermio-'

Before I could stop myself, I had gotten up and placed myself in between the two of them, towering over the Ginger by a couple of inches. 'She said no, Weasel.' He glared at me.

'And why do you care so much?'

'Because, unlike you, I have respect for women. If you carried on, you would have been border line sexually assaulting Granger.' He stomped out of the office and I heard Hermione let a sigh of relief behind me.

'Thanks, Malfoy.' I turned and saw her smiling at me and shrugged, still seething with anger.

'No problem.' I let myself calm down before winking at her, telling her that I'd see her tonight. She blushed and left the office, giving Potter one last goodbye. I returned to my desk, and got on with my work for the afternoon, putting away the list of four names in the top drawer.

'Draco.' I looked up, seeing Potter smiling at me. 'Thanks.' I nodded to him, trying not to notice the way the whole office stopped their business to listen. 'Why did you help her?'

'We're friends.' I realised that sounded a little too suspicious, and added more on. 'Besides, I didn't want the Weasel stalking around my neighbourhood.' Potter smiled. 'Why didn't you help her?'

'If it had got out of hand, I would have stepped in. But they're both my best friends, so it's a little difficult.' I nodded and everyone returned to work, muttering about what had just happened.

* * *

That evening, after my mother had retired to bed early, I rang Hermione, telling her that she should come around. Within ten seconds, she was stood in my hallway, and within another two, I had pushed Hermione up against the wall and was kissing her senselessly.

'Draco…' Hermione moaned as she threaded her fingers through my hair and I pressed myself against her.

'I missed you.'

'You saw me at lunch.'

'I wasn't allowed to do this at lunch.' I let my hand trial down her arm, bringing her hand up so it was in front of my face. I kissed each finger, then each knuckle, then the palm and back of her hand. 'Did the Weasel hurt you?'

'A little.'

I glanced at her possessively. 'What would you say if I told you that I wouldn't let any other man touch you apart from me?'

She smiled softly at me. 'I'd say you're being far overprotective, but luckily, I like that. But, we have yet to have our first date, so I don't think you can say that yet.'

She stuck her tongue out at me and we went through to the living room, and I let Hermione lay in my arms with her eyes shut, listening to her breathe as I ran my hand up and down her white silk blouse. 'So, about half seven on Saturday night for our first date?'

'Sounds good. Dress code?'

She looked up at me and I smirked. 'Do you want an answer to that?' She rolled her eyes at me and I laughed. 'Any food preferences?'

'It must be edible.'

'I promise it will be.' She smiled angelically at me and closed her eyes again, settling back onto my chest. My mind returned to the list of four names in my desk drawer. After a few more minutes of silence, I spoke again. 'Hermione, I need your help.'

Noticing the serious tone to my voice, she sat up and stared at me with wide eyes. 'Is everything okay?'

'I think so. Today, I was thinking about my dark mark and what you said. I didn't take it willingly so I shouldn't be punished. Getting that sorted should be fairly simple. But…'

'What is it, Draco?' She held my hands and I bit my lip, looking over her shoulder at the wall.

'I was the first one to get my mark, and everyone else soon followed, but some of them had redness like mine, and it was still there on the last day I saw them. I know it's going to be hard, but we need to get the wrists of everyone in Azkaban looked at to see if the redness is still there. It's not fair for them to be there if they are innocent.' I glanced back at Hermione to see her smiling.

'And you need my help because?'

'You did that S.P.E.W campaign thing, and if a war heroine wants to free death eaters, other people will back it too. Will you help me? Please, Hermione.' I didn't realise how passionate I felt about this until I told Hermione of my plans, listening to the pleading tone in my voice.

She hugged me powerfully, and I could feel her grin against my chest. 'Of course, I will Draco.' She stood up and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write a note that she sent upstairs.

'What are you doing?'

'Telling your mother where you've gone. We need to get to the Ministry to start this campaign.' Hermione grabbed my hand, and we side apparated to the now empty atrium of the Ministry of Magic.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Thank you to my reviewers **crazychick-1027, Marion Hood**(Agreed!), **Lizzie1227, poetrylover22**(Glad you think so!), **graceem27**(I'm 17, am top of all of my classes at college, I'm a young carer, I do the college radio, I'm currently editing my book and going out with my friends… I don't know either! Thank you!) and **Booknerdxx**(I'll see what I can do! I haven't actually been kissed before, so every single kiss scene is just a complete and utter guess)! Enjoy! hsx

CHAPTER 10-

By the time eight o'clock in the morning rolled around, I felt like death walking. Hermione had insisted we started off in the library, and using the clearance I had to use all documents, we made copies of every single death eater file that hadn't died in Azkaban already. After three hours of doing that, we took the papers back to my office and pushed all of the desks and chair to the walls of the room and laid out the papers on the floor, sorting them into piles of who would be the easiest to get access to for their dark mark to be checked, then stuck up big pieces of paper on the wall with plans on how to my dark mark looked at, then everyone else's.

At quarter to nine, I suggested coffee, since neither Hermione or I looked too brilliant, which was probably due to the fact we were still wearing yesterday's clothes. 'I take it with two sugars and a kiss.' She stuck her tongue out at me and I left the office, laughing. Just as I was filling up the second cup, Harry walked past, nodding at me, which had become our usual form of creating. After a few seconds, I heard his footsteps stop.

'What are you doing here, Draco? You don't get here until nine.' I stood up to my full height, holding both cups of coffee.

'It's not my fault. Hermione… well, go and look in the office.' I followed him in, and he almost dropped his briefcase at the sight before him.

'Hermione! What the hell are you doing?' She looked up at him briefly, then turned back to the papers she was sorting through on the floor. I walked past my dumbfounded colleague and gave one of the coffee cups to Hermione, then joined her on the floor.

'Thanks, Draco.'

'You two! What are you doing?' Hermione glanced at me and I nodded.

'Is it okay of we borrow your office for several weeks? And your team of Aurors?'

'Why?' Harry had gotten over his initial shock and had managed to put his briefcase down on one of the desks at the side of the room. I got up from the floor and took off my blazer. I rolled up the white shirt sleeve and began to unravel the bandage and showed him my dark mark. 'Why are you- whoa. Why is it bright red?'

'Because I didn't take it willingly.' I said as I began to wrap the bandage back around my arm.

'So, you and Hermione have destroyed our office because…?'

Hermione looked up at him through the steam that was coming off her coffee. 'Because if they didn't take it willingly it means that they didn't serve Voldemort willingly so that therefore means that they shouldn't be punished. Draco's mother was released from jail a few days ago because of it.' Harry's face softened at the mention of my mother, and I remembered what she did for him. 'Please, Harry.'

Without hesitation, he answered. 'Of course.' The two of us joined Hermione on the floor and we carried on sorting through the papers, which were sorted by half nine, and after we had explained to the rest of the Aurors who worked with us what we were doing. Surprisingly, they were all on board. By ten o'clock, everyone had a job to do. Hermione had left to tell her boss in the Department of Mysteries so she wouldn't get fired for being an hour late, Harry had gone to put in a request for an audience with the Minister of Magic, McCann and Brandwood-Spencer were going around the entire Ministry building and putting up posters to drum up support, and the other Aurors had been split into groups to go and get people to sign petitions. But the biggest incentive was that Hermione Granger and Harry Potter wanted to free innocent death eaters.

I was left in the office on my own, trying to get everything into a slightly less organised mess, when the Weasel decided to stick his head around the door. 'Harry… Malfoy, where is everyone?'

I looked up at him nonchalantly, trying not to let the fact that he had hurt Hermione bother me. 'Harry's gone to try and request an audience with the Minister of Magic, and the rest of them have gone to get petitions signed or to put up posters.' Then I decided to add on the end with a smirk. 'And Hermione will be back in a minute to help me.'

The Weasel's face began to turn red. 'And why would she of all people be helping you?'

I smirked once more and handed him one of the spare posters, and as he read it over, he got angrier by the minute. 'It's for a good cause.'

'Like hell it is! You just want your own army!' This was the moment that Harry and Hermione decided to walk back into the office. 'You're just using them! What curse have you put on them?'

'He hasn't put any curse on either of us, Ron. He asked us to help him, and that's what we're doing.' The Weasel turned around, his face redder than his hair.

'You're doing this just to get back at me, because you know I won't give up until you're mine.' She rolled her eyes at him.

'Stop being so childish, Ronald. Besides, even I was, which I'm not, why would Harry be helping?' The Weasel opened his mouth to retort, but he stormed out instead.

'He started it.' Hermione grinned at me and shook her head. 'What did your boss say?'

'He said it was fine. He's given me the rest of the week to help you though. The rest will have to be done in our own time.' I nodded and turned to Harry.

'Any news on the Minister front?'

'He said he has fifteen minutes free at two o'clock this afternoon. We're going to have to have our presentation short and quick, but memorable. Any ideas, Hermione?' She nodded slowly.

'A few. But I think most of it will be Draco speaking, as he is the one with the dark mark, which should last about seven minutes, then we can talk for three about why we're backing his plan, which gives the Minister five minutes to consider it or ask questions. Sound good?' Harry and I both nodded, and Wilson came in with Smith, both of them carrying clipboards and quills.

'Got everyone's signature from the Department of International Magical Cooperation!'

Harry smiled at them. Can you get those formatted and in folder, and do the same for the rest of the signatures when the other's get back?' The pair nodded and went to a desk, then Harry turned to us. 'No offence, you two, but you look awful. Go and find somewhere to lie down for a few hours. I can handle signatures and posters.' We nodded and left to the small hospital wing in the Ministry to see if we could each get one of the resting rooms each.

'I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, but we only have one room available.'

'That's fine. I'll sleep on the floor.' The medi-witch nodded and led us to a room at the back of the wing, which I locked from the inside. When I turned from the door, I saw that Hermione had her back to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she felt tense in my arms. 'What's wrong?' She turned in my arms to face, and I saw that she was biting her lip, making her look very endearing.

'Can I ask you something?' I nodded. 'I'm a virgin.' I narrowed my eyes at her.

'I already know that. And that's not even a question.' Hermione tried to smile, and she ended up looking down at my chest. I put my finger under her chin and she looked up into my eyes, but I saw her chocolate coloured ones were all watery. 'What's wrong?'

'Are you sure you want me? You could have anyone.'

'Yes, but I want you. Everyone knows that I was called the Slytherin Sex God or whatever it was at Hogwarts. That wasn't completely true. Yes, I'm not a virgin, but I'm not a man whore, okay? I don't care if you're a virgin. I want you for who you are.' She nodded and hugged me, and I rested my chin on top of her head. 'We both need a lie down.' Hermione let me lead her over to the bed and she laid down, still in the circle of my arms.

**A/N: **Two things:

I referenced another fan fiction in this chapter, called **'I take it with two sugars and a kiss'** by **CaptainFlamingoPants**. It's really good Dramione story

I've got offers from two of three of my universities to do creative writing! And there will be chapters from my Dramione stories featured in my portfolio because we're allowed to have fan fiction in them. Yay!

hsx


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